Tsukuba, Japan, Jan 28, 2014 - (ACN Newswire) - Japan's National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) and the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa) have signed a 5-year collaborative agreement to co-publish the open access journal Science and Technology of Advanced Materials (STAM). Their goal is to make STAM one of the world's leading publications in materials science.

Founded in 2000, Science and Technology of Advanced Materials provides an international forum for refereed original contributions and reviews covering all aspects of materials science, including advances in research on solids, liquids and colloids, and issues at the forefront of the field, such as nano-, bio- and ecomaterials. Accepted articles are made available online within an open-access platform by the Institute of Physics Publishing, UK.

STAM's "impact factor" - a measure reflecting the relative importance of a journal within its field - has risen continuously since NIMS took over the management of its peer review and financial systems in 2008. In January 2014, Empa joined NIMS in the editorial management of STAM. Professor Gian Luca Bona, CEO of Empa, has agreed to act as a STAM Regional Editor, while Professor Harald Krug, a member of Empa's Board of Directors, will become the new Co-Editor-in-Chief.

Professor Gian Luca Bona says: "It is our intention to attract high-impact contributions from Europe and the US to STAM and thus make the journal one of the world's leading publications in materials science. What's more, we plan to extend the scope of the journal to cover new technology areas such as the use of novel materials for medical applications to enhance the visibility and the overall appeal of STAM."

Professor Ushioda, president of NIMS, adds: "Empa will provide new opportunities for STAM to attract high-impact contributions from Europe and the US. STAM is expected to cover traditional materials science fields with an accent on energy and environmental issues, but is also expanding in new areas such as medical and bioengineering applications, where Empa has a significant expertise."

The NIMS-Empa agreement will provide additional momentum and opportunities for the journal's further development. In particular, it will increase the visibility of STAM in Europe and attract new authors and reviewers. Empa will also set up a STAM editorial office in Switzerland, which will act as the journal's hub in Europe.

Further information will be available at the STAM homepage at http://iopscience.iop.org/stam.

Aims of the collaborative publishing

NIMS and Empa - the leading materials science research institutes in Japan and Switzerland - join efforts in developing a flagship journal that provides high-quality information on recent developments in materials science within an open-access platform. The collaboration will strengthen the position of STAM in Europe and provide additional human and financial resources for the journal expansion.

About NIMS

NIMS is an independent administrative institution that was established to improve the level of materials science and technology in Japan; it is one of the largest and most internationalized research institutes in the country. Research at NIMS is focused on establishing techniques for designing, developing and characterizing novel materials, as well as on discovering new functions of traditional materials through innovative approaches. NIMS has a traditionally strong base in metals, ceramics, superconductors and wide-bandgap semiconductors, and is strengthening its expertise in organic and biological materials. www.nims.go.jp/eng/

About Empa

As an interdisciplinary research institute, Empa, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, conducts cutting-edge materials and technology research. Empa's research activities focus on meeting the requirements of industry and the needs of society, and thus link application-oriented research to the practical implementation of new ideas. As a result, Empa is capable of providing its partners with customized services and solutions that not only enhance their innovative edge and competitiveness, but also help to improve the quality of life for the public at large. Through an efficient technology transfer, Empa is turning research results into marketable innovations. www.empa.ch